Improvement in horse hay-forks



S. flagefs. Home 1%? -fork.

Pa @1766? war 10, $56

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEYMOUR ROGERS, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN HORSE HAY-FORKS Specification forming part of LettersPatent No. 53,345. dated March 20, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SEYMOUR ROGERS, of the city of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Hay- Elevators; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which Figures 1 and 2 are exterior views of myimproved hayelevator with the rod depressed and the prongs protrudingfrom the case. Fig. 3is a sectional view of the lower end of the rod orplunger. Fig. 4: represents the top of the plunger and a section of thecap, showing the relative position of those parts when the plunger israised and the prongs are drawn in.

Like letters of reference in each figure denote similar parts.

The hay-elevator hereinafter described is an improvement on thehay-elevator for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 46,027were granted to me on the 24th of January, 1865, which consists in themanner of constructing the case or sheath whereby it is reduced inweight and can be made more easily and cheaply.

To enable others skilled in the art to make use of my improvement, Iwill proceed to describe the construction and operatien of my improvedhay-elevator.

In the drawings the sheath or case of my hay-elevator is constructed oftwo straight side pieces, a and a,which may be of crescent shape intransverse section, or any other convenient shape which will give asuitable exterior and leave a cavity within for the rod or plunger b.The side pieces, a a, are welded together at one end and drawn to apoint, forminga tapering extremity, c, and above the place where theyare welded together the edges of the side pieces are not broughttogether, but leave a parallel slot, 6, on each side of the sheath. Theside pieces are kept in position without touching each other above thepoint wherethey are united at the lower end by means of a cap-piece, d,the upper end of the sheath or side pieces, a a, entering the cap, andbeing prongs ff of the fork protrude when the rod or plunger 1) isdepressed. The prongs ff are slightly curved and come to a point attheir outer end, the other end of each being fastened to the lowerextremity of the rod or plunger 1) by a pin or pivot, 12, as seen inFig.3. The rod b extends upward in the cavity of the sheath, and itsupper end projects through a slot in the top of the cap-piece d, thelower end of the rod being enlarged in one direction on each side, asseen in Fig. 3, so that the edges of the enlarged portion I) extendthrough the slot 6 on each side of the sheath. This serves to keep therod in position and prevents any tendency to twist.

The rod 1) has two notches in it, both on one side of the rod, onenotch, h, being at that point of the rod which is level with the top ofthe cap cl when the rod is drawn up, and the other notch, 70, at thelevel of the top of the cap when the rod is depressed. the cap-piece dis a cam, l, which, when its lever-arm p is depressed, presses therod 1) to one side, so that the edge of the hole in the cap enters thenotch, and thus keeps the rod at the height required, either up or down.The face of the upper notch, 70, is inclined, so that when the cam-arm pis raised the rod may be drawn up in the sheath, the face of the rodsliding over the edge of the hole in the cap-piece cl.

On top of the rod 1) is pivoted a bail, m, and at the upper end of thebail is a small pulley, q, (see Fig. 2,) over which passes the cord 4,which is attached to the end of the cam-arrnp. The hoisting rope t isattached to the upper end of the bail m above the pulley q.

Thus constructed the operation of my hayelevator is as follows: Therod 1) being raised so that the lower notch it engages the top of thecap 01, the prongs ff are withdrawn into the cavity of the sheath andthe cam-lever p is lowered so as to hold the rod in place. The elevatoris then pressed down into the hay, point foremost. The cam is thenraised,so as to allow the depression of the rod b,which causes theprongs ff to protrude through theholes ii in the sides of thesheath-pieces into the hay, and as soon as the upper notch, it, reachesthe top of the cap (1 the cam-arm p is lowered, which presses the rodover against the side of the slot in the cap and prevents the rod beingraised independently of or within its On top of sheath. The wholeimplement is then raised by horse or other power applied to thehoisting-rope t, carrying with it a large mass of hay supported by theoutstretched prongs ff As soon as it is desired to discharge the hayfrom the elevator it is done by a downward pull on the cord 1', which,passing over the pulley g at top of the bail m, raises the camarm 19 andat once the sheath drops on the rod 11 over the prongs f f, which arethus withdrawn inside the cavity of the sheath, and the load of hay isdeposited wherever required.

The arrangement of operating the cam to release the notch of the rodfrom the cap by a downward pull of the cord r,instead of requiring it tobe done by an upward pull, is not only much more convenient, but itavoids the difficulty'arising from the cord getting twisted around thesheath, because when the cord is pulled downward it will become unwound,or at any rate will operate to raise the lever.

The making of a sheath of two side pieces welded together at the lowerend, instead of using a tubular sheath, simplifies the construction andconsequently lessens the cost of man ufaeturing.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

Making the sheath or case of the hay-elevator of two side pieces of anydesired shape, united at the lower end by welding or otherwise,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I, the said SEYMOUR ROGERS, have hereunto set myhand.

SEYMOUR ROGERS.

Witnesses:

ALLAN G. BAKEWELL, W. D. LEWIS.

